At least 47 killed in ongoing Syria violence

28 of the dead were Syrian soldiers, opposition spokesman says.

This image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Wednesday, June 20, 2012, purports to show smoke rising from buildings in Homs province, Syria.

At least 47 people, including 28 soldiers, were killed Wednesday in violence across Syria, the opposition said.

"The dead were 14 civilians mainly from the central provinces of Homs and Hama, five revolutionary fighters and 28 soldiers," Rami Abdel Rahman, the spokesman for the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told dpa.

He added that 20 of the Syrian troops were killed in clashes with rebels in the northwestern province of Latakia.

In Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkish border, five Syrian soldiers were killed when a car bomb exploded near their checkpoint, the Britain-based observatory said in a statement.

Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed in fighting with rebels in the town of Kernaz in Hama, it said.

Five rebels were killed in similar clashes that took place in the area of Kurdish Mountain near the border with Turkey, Abdel Rahman said.

He added that the rebels had seized an unspecified number of military personnel along with their weapons.

In the central province of Homs, rebel fighters told dpa that Syrian troops were using helicopters in attacks on the al-Rastan and al-Kurssiar areas, setting several wheat fields ablaze.

Syrian troops also shelled areas in Hama, a central dissident province, opposition activists said.

The surge in violence came hours after the head of the UN observing mission in Syria told the UN Security Council that his team would remain in the country until a political solution was reached.

More than 14,400 people, mainly civilians, have been killed since the revolt against President Bashar Assad erupted in March 2011, according to the opposition.